Create Your Rescue Pack (Part 3)
The next part of preparing for your journey is to condition your body. This entails a combination of Moving Your Body and then Quieting Your Body. If you can do both at the same time (like in Yoga) you’ve really scored!
Our bodies hold so much stress that we are not even aware of. We may think we “have it all under control” but awaken to sore muscles, tiredness and that “buzzy” feeling that anxiety perpetuates under the skin. Shake it out! Work it out! Dance it out! Give your body the gift of an outlet so it does not have to hold all of the unresolved feelings that naturally occur when you are restructuring your family and your life.
As discussed before, you do not want to be thirsty and hungry on the mountain trying to figure out where you will get food and water or lying awake freezing when you should have packed a sleeping bag. These decisions and preparation are best made when you are in a state of calm. So, we now add to our RESCUE PACK ways to Move Your Body and then to Quiet Your Body.
Creative ways to Move Your Body include:
DancingZumba ClassWalking the dog (you know ~ the one you adopted from the last post!)YogaActively Play with your Child (or your nieces and nephews = your siblings will love you for it)ExerciseRide a BikeWalk the beach or a local parkHike (there are Meetup.com groups who take local hikes)Go swimming (no pool? Check out your local gym or crash the pool at a friend’s apartment complex)Get an exercise bike or treadmill for your home (check out Local5, Craigslist or Play it Again Sports for used ones at a discounted price)Work out with weights – or use your little one as weights. Check out this YouTube video on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzmZXlKLaVE
Make a list of your favorite ways to Move Your Body. The important aspects are to get your heart rate up a bit and work those muscles and to take your mind off of stressful events of the day.
Once you have released those stress toxins from your body, it is equally important to RELAX. Show your body some compassion.
Creative ways to Quiet Your Body are:
Luxuriate in a bubble bath
Go to a reputable massage spa for a massage. Yes, this is for you men, too. (Often you can get 1/2 hour for $45)
Have spa day with your girlfriends.
Yoga (again)
Lay in a hammock
Sit in your favorite chair with a cup of tea
Take a nap
Better yet, take a nap at the beach ~ it’s free!
Get a pedicure
Sit quietly anywhere ~ If you feel you just cannot escape the constant demands from work and kids, take 10 extra minutes sometime in the day, sit in your car and put on some soothing music. My dad who owns and accounting firm takes a nap in his car in the middle of the day and then goes back in to work.
Meditate, Meditate, Meditate. More about that later.
As discussed in Part 2, if you feel you cannot get away from the kids, hook-up with a friend or relative and offer to take care of their kids once a month if they will do the same for you. You don’t know someone? Yes, you do. Find a parent at the kids’ school; check with your church; ask around at work; put the word out to everyone you know and ask them to let you know if they think of someone. This will be a mission, but one that will help you to be more present, energetic and loving during the rest of your month!
Next time, I will tell you the single most important thing Oprah says she has done and how it will help you THRIVE through this journey.